Midlife Crisis Hawaii

Mmmm… Boiled Peanuts

Apr 3, 2014

Warning: This post contains mention of and pictures of peanuts. If you have a peanut allergy, please take precautions when reading this post. The author will not be responsible for any allergic reactions.

Remember going to the old Honolulu Stadium in Moi’ili’ili and buying roasted or boiled peanuts? I hardly do but I’ve read quite a number of times about the lady that used to stand outside of the stadium and sell her boiled peanuts. Something about the ashes from her cigarette was what made her boiled peanuts taste so good.

When I was in college, I got hooked on boiled peanuts from Ruger Market. That and and Icee to wash it all down. Then after not eating it for a decade or two, I decided to try them again. But now, the Ruger Market boiled peanuts were too salty for me. After the bag was gone, my lips were chapped from all the salt.

I tried the boiled peanuts from the Chinese guy who used to have a stall at the old Ala Moana Farmers Market. He had the long white beard and looked like a Kung-fu master. But his one had too much of the Anise taste for me. And I think his was dry-boiled.

So my hunt for boiled peanuts continued. Paula likes dry boiled peanuts but not me. I like them juicy so you have to suck in when you bite into them otherwise there’s a chance that the delicious juice is going to squirt out. Bite um, suck um, then bite um some more to get to the peanuts.

So about a year ago, I stumbled upon some boiled peanuts from Alicia’s Market.

I grabbed the bag of peanuts that was closest to me and was in small-kine shock when it rang up around $10. But whatever, I go try.

Ho, you know what? The buggah is ono! Nice and juicy, not too salty, little bit still crunchy. I whacked half the bag in one sitting. I don’t know what their secret is but I cannot go into that store without grabbing a bag of peanuts. Maybe this weekend I’ll need to make a stop there.

At craft fairs, I see different flavors of boiled peanuts like this:

I think I could come up with some flavors too. How about Kim-Chee flavored boiled peanuts? Or pho flavored. Not so sure that pizza flavored boiled peanuts would catch on. Nacho cheese? Ewww!

Here’s a peanut memory: remember walking under the bleachers at the old Honolulu Stadium? And all the peanut shells would be falling from the bleachers above your head? And every so often, a spilled beer would come pouring down from up above. And at the Hawaii Islanders Fan Club shack with the totan roof, you could hear the empty peanut shells falling on the tin roof.

Where do you go for your boiled peanuts? Was there a place from small-kid-time that had broke-da-mout boilded peanuts but isn’t around anymore? How about flavored boiled peanuts – what flavor would you try making? I think Kim-Chee boiled peanuts would work! Have any peanut memories to share?

I have not bought from anywhere since I started making my own back in the 80’s. If you can boil watah, you can boil peanuts.
Like fried rice, there is no recipe …lol… about ‘this much’ Hawaiian Salt and ‘this much’ star anise.

IIRC, The Peanut Shop last had a shop on Liliha Street, about a block up from School Street. That shop has since closed. I dunno if they opened another location.

The Stadium Peanut Lady also had a booth (okay, more like a table with a modesty “panel”) outside of the old Ala Moana Sears on the mall level, facing Ewa. I can still picture the greenish, striped modesty panel that was made of fabric. LOL.

I liked both the boiled and the roasted peanuts; would buy either one at Hawaii Islander games and football games at the old Honolulu Stadium, depending on what we were craving that day.

The downstairs walking area ran under the bleachers, which had large openings between long strips of wood. If you walked under the bleachers at the wrong time, when someone was kicking their foot, your head would get showered with a cascade of falling peanut shells…

I like boiled peanuts that come in a miniature paper bag instead of a plastic bag. Half-way through, the bag gets all beat-up. But that’s the beauty of eating boiled peanuts, you never know what to expect. The thing with soggy peanuts from over-boiling it is the extra flavors that gets attached on to the peanuts. Yummy! Raw peanuts is the worst. Ever had uncooked peanuts in your ox-tail soup? Not good.

Ever since chancing by Pat’s Peanuts a little over four-years ago, I’ve been trying to “deconstruct” the recipe. Obviously, it contains garlic and red chili flakes. It also has a bit of a teriyaki flavor. I’ve stumbled upon a pretty weak teriyaki sauce that comes pretty close. I’ve also been meaning to also try adding some dashi mix like Hon-Dashi or an instant saimin dashi packet . . . .

I remember they used to sell boiled peanuts at the high school football games at the Termite Palace Stadium! Everyone loved them! It was like a ritual! You were not Kewl unless you were eating boiled peanuts in the stands! There were peanut shells everywhere!

Good morning! I really like boiled peanuts. I used to like the one that Rod talked about at the old Ward farmers market. I should try the Ruger and Alicia’s market ones. The one at Marukai is pretty good. My Mother in Law makes good boiled peanuts and I tried a few times. The best ones i’ve tasted was homemade kind brought to pot lucks.

Hey Erebody,
Is Ruger Market’s boil peanuts still good?
Haven’t eaten them in awhile since I don’t pick up my maui onion poke there no more. I like Yama’s but it is the small kine’ peanut,
not da’ beeg one like Rugers. As I get older, I like dry boil more an’ more. Cannot find though.

Ft. Ruger Market is where I used to buy my drink after the Diamond Head and Kapiolani Park run. Always scouted out the snacks and things there. Snacks were a little pricy, but the cheap sodas made up for it. Love those mom and pop stores.

last time i had boiled peanuts civic auditorum 50th state wrestling me and my dad watching gorilla monsoon going over the top ropewith ed francis on his back applying a sleeper hold they fell 10 or 15 feet onto the hard concrete 5 feet away from us
i think i’ll go make some boiled peanuts

The poke at Alicia’s is pretty good. But again, somewhat pricey. You get what you pay for–so if it’s quality you want–expect to pay for it. $10 bucks for boiled peanuts? Wow, that’s 2 drinks at at the nightclubs. Still, next time I’m in Kaliheeeee, I go try too.

Other than granny making the boiled peanuts, jung, jai, and sweet mochi soup for us at Chinese New Year’s time, can’t remember having those flashbacks like at the Old Stadium or the Civic. But do recall eating peanuts and popcorn at the HIC when the circus came to town. It was the roasted peanuts kind. You just dump the shells right on the floor in front of your seat after cracking them and eating the treat. For me, the skin of the peanut no really bother me. So I just ate ‘em too.

I remember that commercial, “you got your peanut butter in my chocolate” and “you got your chocolate in my peanut butter”. Well, did that once with my sibling. Think I had the peanut butter. So we bumped into each other ‘pretending’. So his chocolate when broke and dipped into my bottle of Skippy’s. Thing is that there was no peanut butter on his chocolate. I start to run away, not giving him any peanut butter. Next, thing I know the bottle of peanut butter slips out of my hand and dropping to the ground. The bottle of peanut butter shatters. Then, we start beefing with each other. Pops saw what happened. We both got good lickins’ for that. Man, where do these memories come back from?

Once I went to a tailgate at Aloha Stadium. I made a large bag of peanuts. I had to walk through the other tailgaters to find my group. I ran into someone I never see in one long time and we talked a bit. He was a loud guy and jokingly asked if I was selling the peanuts. After I left him I got stopped so many time by people asking if I was selling my peanuts.

Lately, been grinding on the can of premium grade roasted peanuts they sell at Costcos. Salty as heck, but no matter when you got the beer as a chaser. It’s a little better than Planters. The size of the peanut is bigger and they put a tad more salt on it.

Different strokes for different folks. To me, the ‘crunchy’ peanut butter is much better than the ‘smooth’ one. Something about biting into those small bits of peanut adds to it. K, den… how about peanut butter flavored boiled peanuts?

Man, I spock the gon lo mein above the boiled peanuts in the picture. Wait a second, Alicia’s is not a Chinese restaurant. More like tossed noodles then. Something more like the dumb guy in Chinatown would eat. LOL

Hope everyone is having a fun afternoon Missed reading all the banter between Seawalker and 4G Got my laughs for today

I loved eating boiled peanuts…. don’t have a clue where my Mom it from. I don’t go out of my way to find it but if I happened to bump into someone selling boiled peanuts, I would buy some…. now and then….. what a treat. I never guessed the ingredients in them…. just ate and enjoyed

Have a great afternoon/evening everyone

I’m working on an editing project day and night; want to finish it by Sunday but will pop in now and then to lurk

I used to go to Ruger market. It was only about a mile and a half from my house at 22nd Ave and Paikau St. I would pick up the Kalua Pig for lunch! And the li hing mui and good stuffs. It was just local kine. You had to live near their to know it was even there. Good kind people!

So I am old enough to remember the Peanut Lady at the Old Stadium and always bought a bag when we went to football games. But I don’t know if you all know this, but that Peanut Lady was also the Peanut Lady that used to sit outside of Sears. My dad was a manager of the Sears Stereo, Radio and TV department and the lady used to be outside of the door that led right into his department. She was always there and worked all by herself. My dad would always buy a few bags of peanuts from her…dry boiled and boiled. It wasn’t until I was in intermediate school that he told my why she was so special. Apparently, she had to take take of her grandchildren because her son and his wife had both passed away. I’ve often wondered what ever happened to her and if she was able to find some peace and happiness in her life.

Another Ruger Market boiled-peanut-eater here. @DancingBear-I still buy them there once in a while and they’re good. They are a little salty, but for me, it’s probably because I’m on a low salt diet now, knowhuddimean? I can’t say I can accurately compare taste then and now, but it WAS awesome after an afternoon of surfing. Actually everything tasted awesome anyway. Re: post about peanuts at the stadium. Off topic, but did the Redskins play there once? After reading the post I had a flashback. I’m rambling, sorry.

@4G – Think we saw Johnny Rockets the last time we went to Universal Studios or at one of the theme parks in California. Too bad we going be dead by the time they complete urban sprawl in Kakaako. Going get planny more eateries coming from the mainland especially with rail. When will Dick’s open up here? Know a lot of people who qualify going into that store. LOL

I remember the way we used to eat boil peanuts deserve some mentioning. Okay, so it was mostly 2 in a pod. Once in a while, you’d get these big-a$$ one-sies. Sometimes it was 3, 4, or even 5 in the pod. On occasion, we’d de-shell a whole bunch of them boiled peanuts, and put it in a pile before eating them. One time, I when make like sharing it with my siblings. So we all pitched in to take off the shell. Being the black sheep of the bunch, when it was time to grind, I’d hog a whole bunch for myself even though you were supposed to share the nuts and make everybody happy. Well, that led to a “beef” again. Guess who took notice? Yup, it was pops. Man, we’d get lickins’ for doing some silly thing with boiled peanuts and getting into fights. Good fun remembering.

My dad liked boiled peanuts, my hubby likes them too. I never ate them when I was young… then about a year ago I decided to try it.. what have I missed all these years? But I guess my palate is changing… I do like boiled peanuts, the ones that are juicy!! I didn’t even know there are different flavors of boiled peanuts so I guess I better start scouting around for samples!1 Any suggestions?

Aloha aunties & uncles hope your having a great day full of aloha? Mahalo fo giving me back the gift of old Hawai’i and my hanabata memories. I haven’t know you guys long but im greatful i met you and see you guys as my bruddahs and sistahs Mahalo.

@Mark Shelby – Absolutely. Now, if Michelle Wie somehow wins the Kraft Nabisco this weekend, that would really be spreading the aloha. Saw her play in Hawaii when she was 12. Awesome-ish! Keep the tunes coming, brah.

I tried Masa and Joyce’s in Kaneohe a few times and their boiled peanuts are ono. My dad used to grow peanuts in his garden then boil them, so good and fresh. My wife likes smooth and I like crunchy PB. PB&J and milk–da bes!

About The Author

Rodney Lee is a Baby Boomer - and proud of it. Rodney started the Midlife Crisis blog back in the days of The Honolulu Advertiser and ran it for about 3 years. After The Honolulu Advertiser shut down, Rodney decided to continue his blog here at Midlife Crisis Hawaii. New blog entries are added every Monday and Thursday.